Djokovic does not attend Madrid Open
"Djokovic cannot compete in Madrid. We wish him a speedy recovery and return to the field as soon as possible," the Madrid Open homepage announced on April 22.
Djokovic won the title three times in Madrid, winning 30 of the 39 matches played at the event in the Spanish capital. He reached the semi-finals last year, losing to Carlos Alcaraz in the third set tie-break.
Djokovic has had an elbow problem since attending the Monte Carlo Masters two weeks ago. He lost the third round of this tournament, then lost the quarterfinals of the Srpska Open on April 21. The right elbow is where Djokovic operated on in 2018 and has not had any serious problems since. During a press conference at the Srpska Open, the 35-year-old said his elbow is not in ideal condition but is sufficient for competition.
According to Serbian media, Djokovic wants to make a full recovery, avoiding risks close to the day Roland Garros starts on May 28. Leaving the Madrid Open leaves him with only the Rome Masters as the major event left to warm up to the second Grand Slam of the season. The Rome Masters will begin on May 10, followed by two ATP 250 tournaments in Geneva and Lyon.
Djokovic has won 17 of his 20 matches since the start of the year, winning two titles in Australia earlier this year. He had to take a break for nearly two months after the Dubai Championships because he was not eligible to enter North America.
Srpska Open's Djokovic knockout Dusan Lajovic reached the final against second seed Andrey Rublev. The Russian player played his second consecutive final, after winning the Monte Carlo Masters last week. Rublev has a chance to win his 14th title after 21 ATP finals.
The other tournament in the spotlight this week is the ATP 500 in Barcelona. Two top seeds Carlos Alcaraz and Stefanos Tsitsipas meet in the final at 9pm today, Hanoi time. Alcaraz dominated the confrontation with three wins. The last time the two players met was at Barcelona last year, where Alcaraz defeated Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals.
